The Jewish philosopher Maimonides emphasized the importance of every moral choice by asserting, “One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil.” A walk through the ‘hood, however, reveals that your environment has at least as much effect on your decisions as you have on it. On a standout off his latest street release, J NICS uses the same imagery to illustrate a harder-nosed outlook: “Where do we dwell, heaven or hell? / A little bit of both till we balance out the Scale.” Project collaborator DJ Burn One‘s foreboding sample work sets the stage for NICS’ bleak lyrical depiction of life and death in the inner-city streets. The perfect fit for the cut’s subject matter, Freddie Gibbs delivers a gritty, expertly-flowed guest 16 on the back. Feeling it? You can cop this joint as part of J NICS and Burn One’s Darkside LP, available here in both free and premium versions.

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J NICS has established himself as one of the South's most promising emcees, while DJ Burn One has emerged as one of the region's most sought-after producers. So it was only right that the two joined forces for their new...
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